Spirits and Souls
by StorySongs
Summary: HDM/Yugioh fusion. Yugioh character studies through daemons.
1. Seto: Rebirth

_Seto Kaiba_

Standing across from the bitter young man who has so badly crushed his other half's grandfather, he feels an unexpected emotion from his daemon. Perched on his shoulder, claws digging into the fabric of Yugi's jacket, she stares down Kaiba and the bitter wolf snarling at his side with something sad… Pity, he realizes.

"_They're not meant to be this way." _She whispers in his ear, running the wicked hook of her beak through his bangs. This form is new to her, though not so different from the one they remember in their shadowy, vague memories. Frowning, he considers the pair.

The white wolf at Kaiba's heels stares him down with icy blue eyes identical to her human's. Coldly beautiful and unmistakably deadly, she suits what little he knows of Kaiba, but… His daemon is right. The form is all wrong for the two of them, too cold and harsh and earthbound. It rankles like an ingrown hair now that he notices it.

They've been forced into this form, molded by choices other than their own, and he cannot stand to see them this way. When they crush their minds, Kaiba's daemon collapses in on herself, changing shape with an agonized yelp and becoming a pale, tiny cat that curls into Seto's chest with a desolate mewl as the young man drifts within the ruins of his mind.

This is their chance for rebirth, the spirit assures his other half as he cedes control. Kiyoko takes the place of his own daemon with a distressed call, and Yugi cuddles her small feathered form to his chest with a shudder as he watches Kaiba and Kisara cling to each other without awareness.

They both hope they're right.

* * *

When they meet at Duelist Kingdom, Yami is disappointed to see they've fallen into old habits. Kisara is again a wolf at Kaiba's heels, but this time she's different; a little larger, a healthier coat, a spark in her eyes that's more than hatred. No, this time it's pure determination.

She and Yasu snarl at each other viciously as Seto and Joey duel- no surprise there. The real surprise comes when they leave; just before they disappear from sight, Kisara shifts as easily as breathing into the form of a stocky, muscled white bear. A Spirit Bear, as the Native Americans would say. Protective and unstoppable, they practically dare someone to get between them and their cub. (Well, their brother, really, but where Mokuba is concerned the lines are strongly blurred.)

Yugi and the spirit share a quiet moment of triumph while the rest of their group exclaims in surprise. "I thought Kisara settled a long time ago?" Ryou asks, running a hand down Aiyana's back. Yugi shakes his head.

"She'd settled, but the form was all wrong. They'd been forced to be that way, and when the spirit crushed their minds, she changed. I guess they have to figure out who they really are again."

They stare after the two in fascination- and more than a little fear.

* * *

Mokuba is safe, the house is quiet, and Seto can't sleep.

Kisara curls up on his chest in the form of a tiny Siamese cat, something she hasn't been able to do since their adoption. Gozaburo had forbidden such small, weak forms. When Kisara had finally settled, just one day before their takeover of the company, Seto had felt the triumph alongside a painful sense of wrongness at her form. Even his stepfather wouldn't dare call a she-wolf "weak".

Now she is malleable again, constantly in flux, and it makes him uneasy. If they're not allowed to be the strong, ruthless wolf, then who are they?

A velvety paw with claws just barely extended enough to prick taps his face.

"We're still strong. Just not strong in the wrong way, like before." As if to prove it, she shifts into a white tiger. Kaiba has to laugh as her sudden weight forces the air out of his lungs. Of course she's right. After all they've been through, they'll never be weak again- but now they're free to be strong in their own way.

They'll figure it out eventually.

* * *

A rare day off, spending time in their large backyard with Mokuba and Kou. Mokuba grabs his brother's hand and drags him to the nearest tree.

"C'mon nii-sama, I bet I can beat you to the top!" He laughs as he scrambles up into the branches. Humoring him, Seto barely stops to shed his trenchcoat before he's following him up. While Kou changes into a dragonfly and buzzes around his human's head like a normal daemon, Kisara does what she's done for years- shifts into a cat and claws her way up the bark.

With his longer legs and greater reach, Seto easily beats his brother to the platform they'd built in secret a few months before Gozaburo died. (The gardener had two sons of his own and had only smiled as they'd snuck boards and tools into the trees.) They sit there and Mokuba laughs breathlessly, swinging his legs off the platform carelessly.

"You've still got it, big brother!" A smile quirks the edge of Seto's lips. Kisara rests in his lap, calmly washing a paw as Kou perches playfully on Mokuba's nose.

They sit in companionable silence for a moment, before Mokuba speaks up.

"Hey Seto, why does Kisara climb the trees with you instead of just changing and flying up?" They both go still at the question.

"Gozaburo always told me that birds were weak- brittle bones. We just… got out of the habit, I guess." When distressed, Kaiba never reaches for his daemon. That habit had been the source of severe punishment by their stepfather. Mokuba knows this, sees the slight twitch of his brother's hand as he squashes the impulse to rub Kisara's ears.

"Gozaburo's gone, big brother." Seto shoots him a glare that would send most of his employees stuttering to correct their error, but this is Mokuba and he knows his brother better than anyone. "Give it a try."

Kisara and Seto stare at each other for a moment before quickly, decisively, Kisara jumps off of his lap and shifts into a magpie mid-leap.

Mokuba can see Seto's eyes widen as his daemon circles the tree, beginning to chatter rapturously in a magpie's brash loud voice. Any other person might have been smiling widely, but for Mokuba, the too-bright shine in his brother's eyes is more than enough.

From then on, Kisara never takes a form without wings.

* * *

Yami has to stop himself from smiling widely when he sees Kaiba on the screen at the start of Battle City. Kisara is perched on his shoulder, an albino magpie with bright blue eyes. They're not quite there, but they're getting closer- they've discovered their wings.

He strokes his daemon's back and she nips a finger triumphantly.

* * *

A dangerous incident provides the final push they need to find themselves completely.

It's a routine meeting, meeting with some potential investors and mergers. Mokuba and Kou are sitting at their left hand, taking notes and occasionally passing a suggestion on to their older brother through whispered conversations between their daemons.

After the meeting Mokuba goes off to use the restroom while Seto stays behind to speak with an investor, the iguana daemon perched on his shoulder staring at Kisara with fascination. She's a magpie again, an albino one. She's always preferred albino or otherwise white forms, and never been able to express why. He thinks it's something to do with their inherent need for attention. Whatever the reason, they speak to the man for a few moments and then go in search of their brother- he's been gone a worryingly long time.

A muffled scream, coupled with a hawk's screech, send them bolting into a run down the hallway.

Pure unholy rage clouds Seto's mind as he takes in the situation in the restroom- a man, a lower-level assistant of the visiting executives, is pinning his brother- _his brother!-_ to the sink, a lecherous sneer on his face as his hyena daemon pins Kou's form to the ground.

A roar splits the air as they lunge forward as one, Kisara shifting faster than thought, and even in his rage Seto feels something _click_ into place with a rightness that shakes him to his core.

He barely registers the man underneath his hands as he drags him off of Mokuba, slender fingers wrapping around his throat and finding the windpipe unerringly. A startled canine scream proves Kisara has the enemy daemon under control, and the man looks as if he's just now truly comprehended what he's done. He babbles something about not recognizing Seto's brother, really, he'd thought he was just some kid- and is cut off as Seto's fingers crush into his windpipe as he bares his teeth in a feral snarl.

He holds the man, constant pressure on his trachea, until the recently arrived Isono firmly but gently untangles his fingers and shoves Mokuba into his arms. Snapped back to reality, Seto lets his little brother cling and muffle sobs in his shoulder, holding him tightly and whispering reassurances into his ear.

Kou slips into their embrace, huddling himself as close to Mokuba's chest as he can manage. Form of a hare- a sure sign his brother is shaken and vulnerable. He holds them close, and Kisara nudges her head under his arm to nuzzle Kou's back comfortingly… Wait, what?

He blinks as he turns his head to stare at his daemon. Pure blue eyes ringed by snow white scales meet his, as the dragon curled into his side resettles her wings and flicks her tail. She's so beautiful, so _right,_ that he has to pull her close and feel the warm scales against his fingers, tough as steel but soft as well-worn leather.

Now he sees himself as he is, as he always should have been- and _accepts_ it. Protective, possessive, with a temper that burns as fierce as flame when his own are threatened. Never afraid to turn claws and fire against an enemy, to kill if necessary to end the threat, but never aiming a weapon against the ones he loves. A true dragon, at his heart.

He hugs his daemon close. Soon he'll have to deal with the fallout of the attack, and then there will be the gossip about Kisara, and psychiatrists concerned for his mental health. (They're years too late to worry about that, but he's managing just fine.) But for now, wrapped in the rightness of _safe-and-welcome-and-warm_, he forgets those worries and soothes his brother.

* * *

When Kaiba and his daemon walk into the small gathering of the shadow-touched duelists, Joey chokes on his drink. Yasu yelps, scrambling to her feet and bristling, her brindle coat standing on end. Seto snorts.

"Settle down, Mutt. What's got you so edgy?" The blond sputters, his eyes on the freaking DRAGON perched on Seto's shoulder.

A small hand on his arm silences his protests.

"It's alright, Joey." He swallows, eyeing the ancient spirit controlling his friend's body. Definitely Yami- if the voice and eyes weren't enough, the sleek falcon who has taken the place of Yugi's swallow is a dead giveaway. A smirk crosses the Pharaoh's face.

"I see you have found yourself at last, Seto." The CEO hums tonelessly as Kisara leaps agilely from his shoulder to the table. Kioku (which is not her real name, but the name Yami's kite has taken for herself fits as well as any other) hops to settle on the back of the chair next to her, and the two exchange a brief whisper. Joey swears he hears a soft whisper from the dragon's lips- a simple _thank you._

And if that doesn't set his head spinning with confusion, Kaiba's truly amused laughter when Marik's hare shoves herself into the middle of them with a crude joke certainly does.

* * *

Notes about Daemons (That Have Appeared So Far)

Yugi- Kiyoko ("Pure Child" in Japanese)- female, Barn Swallow, partial albino. I wanted a gentle bird who, at a distance, could be mistaken to be the same bird as Yami's daemon.

Yami- True name unknown, goes by Kioku ("memory" in Japanese), female, Swallow-Tailed Kite. She and Kiyoko are very close in coloration, and at a distance it is difficult to determine which daemon is in control. Their names being so similar was purely a coincidence, though a neat one.

Seto- Kisara, female, Dragoness.

Joey- Yasu, ("Assertive Child" in Japanese), female, Kai Ken dog. "The Kai Ken is intelligent, agile, alert and brave. They are natural hunters and make good guard dogs, being reserved with strangers but loyal to their families. They are friendly, often good with children and are not usually aggressive towards other dogs. Many love to swim, and have been known to cross rivers and climb trees while chasing their prey." Tell me that doesn't sound like Joey. They're also a native Japanese breed. Brindle.

Ryou- Aiyana, female, tan Pharaoh Hound. I was originally going to go with one of the fluffy giant English breeds, but I wanted something sleeker for reasons that will be explained in future chapters.

Mokuba- Kou ("Happiness, Light, Peace" in Japanese), male, unsettled


	2. Mokuba: Dependable

Unlike their brother, they settle with little fuss on a quiet fall afternoon, a breeze carrying the warm scent of burning leaves ruffling their hair and feathers.

Mokuba studies the goshawk sitting on his fist with quiet fascination. Sleek grey feathers, not dull but not exactly shiny either, keen yellow-orange eyes, and deadly talons that are exceedingly careful where they clutch his flesh.

They like to read, often on levels much higher than their age would suggest (intelligence runs in the family after all) and they know the lore of goshawks. Not as flashy or as prized as peregrines, more practical in bringing down things that could be eaten. Able to bring down prey many times larger than themselves, fearless enough to pursue a meal into thick vegetation.

In other words, dependable partners of men who wanted to get things _done,_ without worrying about flash. Just like his position as Nii-sama's right hand.

It's their job to reign Seto and Kisara in when they get too preoccupied with appearances, to be the voice of reason and calm when his brother rages. To draw them back to themselves. They help keep KaibaCorp running smoothly, smoothing feathers ruffled by his brother's lack of social skills and managing the PR department.

If Seto is the brain of the company, its driving force, then Mokuba is the pituitary gland, taking the ideas of his superior, putting them into practice and responding to the results. He doesn't need to be big and flashy and obvious. He just needs to be capable.

And, young or not, they are definitely capable. Mokuba laughs and runs a finger through soft feathers. Kou churrs softly, flicking his wings.

"So, what mess has our brother made for us to clean up this time?"

Mokuba glances down at the paperwork he holds and groans.

"A reporter and her squirrel daemon filed a report on him for 'excessively intimidating' her. Why she's a reporter is beyond me." Kou bristles.

"Kisara is a dragon, and she expected him NOT to be intimidating? Idiot." Mokuba hums his agreement.

"Generic consolation basket?"

"With extra nuts."

"Fine."

Scribbling a note onto the report, they move on in their duties of keeping KaibaCorp from crumbling in on itself like a blimp with all its air suddenly removed.

* * *

Author Notes:

I like the idea of Mokuba being the little invisible one who keeps KC running, managing the day-to-day people stuff while Seto runs the inventions and the finances. A lot like Pepper from Ironman, but with a slightly less arrogant and irritating boss.

Fun fact: the pituitary gland is one of the most protected parts of your body. It's completely enclosed by the sphenoid bone, and it basically runs your life. Go research it if you'd like. (Can you guess what we're studying in Anat/Phys right now?)

The idea for Mokuba's daemon was inspired by rainbowrites' AMAZING Avengers/HDM crossover "Looking For My Heart". Go read it.

I also realized after the fact that my vision of dragons has been heavily influenced by the amazing Avatar: the Last Airbender fanfiction "Embers" by Vathara. I honestly have no words for how amazing it is. Just go read it.

I think that's all for now. Thanks for the reviews and alerts, it inspires me to keep writing!


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